For the uninitiated, Giving Tuesday is the social media darling of the philanthropy world and is (actually) the only recognized global day of philanthropic giving. The highly anticipated online event has finally gained the traction necessary to have itself marked on most nonprofit fundraising calendars, however, that doesn’t mean that planning always begins when it should. (When does it ever?) To help improve your strategic thinking around Giving Tuesday and your end of year fundraising, here are some tips to prepare you for November 29th.

Pick Your Point Person. Who’s going to take ownership of your #GivingTuesday fundraising activities? Pick someone to be accountable for the project.

Start Early. We’ve included some email templates below for you to use for your appeals. By this point in November, you should be sending emails out already – so don’t be shy! Time to get started!

Schedule. Schedule your giving reminders across all major platforms. Try to analyze peak times your followers are active. You can schedule social media posts with HootSuite and use a service like Boomerang or MailChimp for your emails.

Don’t Let it Be a Time Suck Participate, but don’t let this take too much time! Time is money, manage expectations on returns for your work.

Say Thank You! Show a feed of Twitter users who have donated and try to thank each one that donates with #GivingTuesday.

Email Templates for #GivingTuesday

Things happen, you get busy, you forget #GivingTuesday is in November this year – it happens. We get it. Here are some email templates to start sending now to make the most of the global day of giving.

2-3 Weeks Before Giving Tuesday – To your Previous Donors

Subject: Are you with us?
Dear [Donor’s Name],

Your passion to make change for [your cause] has always been appreciated by us, but you can go even further on #GivingTuesday!

On Tuesday, November 29th, we’re joining an international day of generosity called #GivingTuesday. It’s a globally recognized day when you can make a huge impact for [your cause].

With your help this #GivingTuesday, we’ll raise funds to [describe in a few sentences what your goal is].

If you make a contribution online that day, [explain any promotion or dollar matching program], making your support go even further.

Here are all the ways you can help [your cause] on #GivingTuesday:

Make a contribution to our FundRazr campaign on #Giving Tuesday. [Include a link to your campaign page. ie) fundrazr.com/yourcampaign]

Join us for [volunteer activities you’re running].

Help us get the word out on social media using our twitter handle [@yourtwitterhandle] and the hashtag #GivingTuesday.

Share photos showing your support for our cause on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

With your help, we can make this year’s #GivingTuesday the most impactful yet!

Thank you for your support,

[Signature]

The Day of #GivingTuesday – To Your Donors

Subject: Today is the day – Happy #GivingTuesday!

Today is the day, [donor name]! Today we can make a huge impact for [your cause].

With your help, we’ll be able to [a few sentences about your organization’s goal]. Here’s what you can do to help us today:

Make a contribution to our FundRazr campaign on #Giving Tuesday. [Include a link to your campaign page. ie) fundrazr.com/yourcampaign]

Join us for [volunteer activities you’re running].

Help us get the word out on social media using our twitter handle [@yourtwitterhandle] and the hashtag #GivingTuesday.

Share photos showing your support for our cause on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Today’s the day, and we need your help more than ever to make a greater impact.

Sincerely,

[Signature]

The Day of #GivingTuesday – To Your Board Members

Subject: We need your help today for #GivingTuesday

Dear [Board Member’s Name],

We’re excited to be participating in #GivingTuesday today, an international day of generosity. We’re raising funds today to help kick off our giving season and to support [your cause’s goal].

We need your help, and it’s easy to get involved. Help us get as many people involved as possible by spreading the word in a few easy steps:

Send an email sharing your enthusiasim for our campaign [link to your FundRazr campaign] to your friends, colleagues, and family members. We’d appreciate their support for [your cause’s name] on #GivingTuesday.

Help us get the word out on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. Our Twitter handle is [@yourcause] and the event hashtag is #GivingTuesday

Because of your support, we’ll be able to [explain what you’re hoping to accomplish with your #GivingTuesday funds].